I have received a letter from Aviva concerning a Norwich Union bond which matured in 2007 and for which I then received a cheque for £12,502. The money had been invested in the “with-profits fund” and Aviva said that it had made a valuation mistake, and would send me a cheque for £335.41 within 14 days.

This cheque would be made up of the additional policy value of £291.95 with added interest from the date the policy ended of £54.33 – with basic rate tax of £10.87 deducted.

I telephoned the same day and said the amount was not acceptable. I asked for a breakdown on what rate of interest had been assigned in the six years and three months that had elapsed since the original payout. I also stated that I felt an extra amount of money should have been granted for goodwill. At no time was an apology offered.

JC, Essex

The mistake came to light when the insurer conducted an investigation into the calculation of asset shares within the fund. This identified that, when the methodology used to calculate the asset shares was changed, an error was made with the allowance provided for the company’s expenses. This led to some final bonus and “market value reduction” rates being incorrect and too little being paid out to savers.

You duly received the accrued interest cheque but there were no answers regarding how the error had come about or the interest had been calculated.

These are facts that you had every right to know. Two standard letters had moreover, irritatingly, described you as Mrs rather than Miss.

My inquiry elicited that the interest had been calculated at 1pc above the Bank of England base rate at the relevant rate applying over the period in question.

Given the parlous state of interest rates since 2009, this doesn’t strike me as generous. I have pointed out to Aviva that other providers do things differently. For example, when HSBC identified a problem over renewal commission payments that should have been passed on to some of its trust account clients, that bank repaid the money adding 8pc interest. In view of the time it took to rectify this error, Aviva has apologised and sent you £100 without admission of liability.